Ebbets Field Flannels

I, like all sane people, have a favorite hat. It’s a grey wool, six panel ball cap with a leather adjustable strap. Last week, my favorite hat decided it wanted to take a plunge into a mud puddle and, despite my insistence, it has refused to let go of its new brown tinge. When I went looking the manufacturer so I could order a replacement, I discovered Ebbets Field Flannels, and my bank account hasn’t forgiven me since. Ebbets Field Flannel is an apparel company based in Seattle that makes throwback ball caps, jerseys and more (they have a San Francisco Seals hat that I can’t wait to get my hands on). If you like high-quality, American-made apparel or have an appreciation for baseball history, you need to check them out.

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John

Blue Bubblegum Horchata

I spent part of my weekend at Stockton’s Open-Air Market.  The gigantic flea market features tons of storefronts, shops and a giant conglomerate of food vendors/shops right in the middle.  One vendor sells a wide variety of different-flavored horchata and fruit drinks.  The table featured giant tubs of chocolate, strawberry, lime, and coconut drunks but I was enticed by the blue bubblegum.  I bought a medium sized drink and fell in love.  I’ve been Googling the stuff ever since, but haven’t found it on the Internet.  Might be back for more this coming Sunday.

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Mahlon

Voodoo Doughnuts

Cash only. 24 hours. Doughnut shop. This is Voodoo in a nutshell. I had a chance to try this place out while I was in Portland a couple weeks ago and it was quite the experience. I went here at midnight and there was a line out the door and down the street, and I waited for an hour to take a crack at these doughnuts. For those not familiar, Voodoo offers your normal doughnut fare but what they’re famous for is their more eclectic doughnuts and their silly names. I picked up the ODB or (old dirty bastard) It was a chocolate doughnut with chocolate frosting, covered in a mountain of crumbled oreos, with peanut butter drizzled across the top.  Some of the other doughnuts they served were covered with cereal like captain crunch and fruit loops, and per their name, they offer a “voodoo doughnut” shaped like a voodoo doll with raspberry filling and white icing to detail the facial features.  If you’re ever in Portland be sure to give this place a try!

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Grant

Doug Seegers

I discovered Doug Seegers this week thanks to the Buddy and Jim Show on Sirius/XM radio. His story is almost as incredible as his voice. He was basically homeless, playing outside the bus depot in Nashville, when he was discovered. He recently released his debut album Going Down the River which features, among others, Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller. If you like traditional country music, you’ll like Doug Seegers. If you don’t like traditional country music, you’ll still probably like Doug Seegers.

The post Weekly Discoveries 10.31.2014 – Ebbets Flannels, Horchata, Doug Seeger and Voodoo appeared first on Blackwing.

Higo No Kami Knife

I spent most of the past week in Portland attending Coffee Fest (and the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, but that’s another story). While there, I spent a good deal of time in the Pearl District, where I enjoyed some killer food (literally) and got to visit some of the shops that carry Blackwing pencils. One of those shops was Hand Eye Supply, an amazing tool/hardware/clothing store stocked with everything from hand-made axes and selvedge jeans, to aprons, hammers and hats. One tool that caught my eye was the Higo No Kami knife, a knife specifically designed for sharpening pencils. I couldn’t resist, so I picked one up and have been honing my pencil sharpening skills ever since.

John

Woolen Men – Fear (Man Revisited) Tour Tape #4

Woolen Men are a sturdy DIY rock band straight out of the depths of Portland, Oregon.  There seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding Portland’s music scene a few years back, but that’s faded and true-blue rockers like Woolen Men endure.  They’re a three-piece band with each member contributing songwriting.  Delve into their discography to find years’ worth of home-recorded, home-dubbed cassettes, 7” splits and EPs, and an LP on Woodsist.  For each tour they release a tour tape – Fear might be the strongest one yet.  Five stellar songs that really capture the essence of a somber Portland fall.

Grant

The Keen Garage (Portland, OR)

While in Portland last week, I stumbled into the flagship store and headquarters for Keen. They not only manufacture durable high quality clothing and footwear but their store design and vibe is worth the visit alone. You can take a break from shopping on one of the kegstools or in their lounge area. But my favorite part, hands down (or heads up) was the Boot Chute.

Mahlon

Ground Kontrol

Before going to Portland this weekend, several of my friends told me that I needed to check out Ground Kontrol. For those of you not familiar, Ground Kontrol is a BARcade, a bar that caters to gamers with 90+ arcade and pinball machines. We showed up around 10 PM and this place was already filled to capacity. After a 20 minute wait we were able to make our way inside. Once the excitement and wonder of all these active machines wore off, we decided to get to business.

We started with Sunset Riders, a four player shoot ‘em up with a cartoony wild west setting. We made it about ¾ of the way through before Chief Scalpem finally got our number. After the sun set on our riders, we moved on to TMNT: Turtles in Time. This is the one we had the most fun with. Some guy whose name I didn’t catch hopped into the game with us and helped us see it to the end. At one point near the end when we were getting light on quarters, he reached into his pocket and slammed a pile of quarters on the cabinet and said “We’ve come too far not to finish this!” I can’t even describe how cool the level of camaraderie felt in that moment. If you’re ever in Portland do yourself a favor and check out Ground Kontrol.

The post Weekly Discoveries 10.23.2014 – Ground Kontrol, Keen, Woolen Men and Higo No Kami appeared first on Blackwing.